Fertility row erupts as woman, 63, to give birth

A BRITISH woman who will give birth at the age of 63 insisted yesterday “a great deal of thought” had been invested in her baby son.

Dr Patricia Rashbrook, from East Sussex, has two grown-up children but has recently remarried and undergone fertility treatment.

The child psychiatrist will become the oldest new mother in Britain when she gives birth in two months.

In a joint statement with her husband, John Farrant, the couple said: “A great deal of thought has been given to planning and providing for the child’s present and future well being, medically, socially and materially.

“Our wish now is to give him the peace and security he needs.”

Refusing to detail the treatment, the future parents insisted the child’s welfare was their top priority and called for their privacy.

It is thought that Dr Rashbrook travelled to Italy for fertility treatment by controversial doctor Severino Antinori.

The Italian, who runs a fertility clinic in Rome, first made headlines in 1994 by helping a post-menopausal 63-year-old woman become pregnant with donor eggs and hormones.

He has said in the past he aimed to be the first to produce a baby cloned from an adult.

In 2004 he claimed that he knew of three cloned babies born but refused to produce any evidence.

Dr Rashbrook’s pregnancy has triggered criticism from pro-life groups, who branded her “selfish”.

Josephine Quintavalle, from Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core), said: “She is being selfish and sometimes greater love is saying no.”

Ms Quintavalle said considerable energy and time was needed to raise a child. “You cannot buy life expectancy,” she said.

Campaign group Life also warned that having a baby at such a mature age was not in the child’s best interests.

Spokesman Matthew O’Gorman said: “The child is not being looked after properly. One is not genuinely having regard for the welfare of the child... IVF is not for making a profit.”

The oldest woman in the world to give birth is thought to be Romanian Adriana Iliescu, who had a daughter called Eliza Maria in January 2005 at age 66.